During the 19th Century, one of the few Asian countries that
had avoided the onslaught of Christianity and Colonism brought
about by Western invaders is Siam, now called Thailand, and
credit must be given to King Mongkut of Rama IV who skillfully
steered his people into the modern era.

Made famous by Hollywood in the movie the King and I,
the real King Mongkut was not an arrogant, stubborn and ignorant
barbarian king as portraited by Yul Bryner. (I think Chow Yun Fat
does a better job of acting in Anna and the King.) He was born on October 18, 1804 as the second son to King Rama II. As a young prince, he was
taught literature, poetry, Buddhism, as well as the art of
warfare. At 12, he was assigned to take charge of the armed
forces of his country.

Following Thai tradition, the young prince was ordained as a
Buddhist Monk when he was at the age of 14, but, while he was
serving his ordination, he father passed away and his brother
Prince Chesdabodin was elected as the next King. Mongkut had no
choice but to continue his monkhood to dedicate his time and
effort to Buddhism for the next 27 years.

It was during these 27 years that Prince Mongkut met his
people from all walks of life, including the poor and the rich,
his own citizens (mostly Buddhists) and foreigners (mostly
Christian Missionaries). From the foreigners, he got a chance to
learn several foreign langauges as well as science, technology
and Christianity.

In 1851, King Nagnkla or Rama III died and finally, Mongkut
was elected as King of Siam. His rule was completely different
from the previous Kings. He was friendly to the West, yet
skillfully avoid being a mere appendage of Western countries. It
was during this period that he hired Christian missionaries to
teach English to his 39 wives and 82 children.

The women and kids soon got bored with the Bible and preaching
that came as a "bonus" to the teachings, and so King Mongkut fired
the missionaries and hired a British teacher, Anna Leonowens,
from Singapore as his English Governess instead. After her
employment contract ended, Anna turned historical facts into
mostly fictitious stories in her books, the English Governess
at the Siamese Court, and the Romance of the Harem.
It was based on these two books that the movie the King and I
(and later a Broadway musical with the same title) was made,
starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. The
film was later remade into Anna and the King, starring Jodie
Foster and Chow Yun-fat. It is interesting to note that while the
original actor Yul Brynner was a Christian, the new actor Chow
Yun-fat is also a Buddhist.

Contrary to the film, which is mostly fictitious, there was no
romance between Anna and the King, and of course Anna had never
served as foriegn affairs adviser to the King. King Mongkut died
of malaria, believed to be infected through mosquitoes while he
was studying the solar eclipse, at an age of 64 in October 18,
1868. When the King passed away, Anna was in the United States,
not beside the King as the movie said.

The throne was succeeded by King Chulalongkorn of Rama V, who
declined to rehire Anna as the English teacher. He did however
continue the effort of bringing Thailand into the modern 20th
Century by promoting science and technology and abolishing bowing
and slavery. His grandson, Bhumibol, is Thailand's current
monarch who will lead Thailand into the new millenium, to become
another Asian Dragon in terms of economic and cultural influence
to the modern world.